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Jadepaw/Turtlepaw (Nightmare)
THIS WAS FOR A CHALLENGE SO IT WILL BE KEPT BRIEF Turtlepaw’s POV I woke to a yowl of fear. Jadepaw. My eyes were open at once, and I was on my paws, ready to save her like a gentleman. But there was no badger or fox or vicious ShadowClan warrior there, only a lonely beam of sunlight revealing the minuscule bits of dust that were normally invisible. And Jadepaw of course. She was thrashing in her sleep. Probably a nightmare. I reached forwards and tapped her lightly. Her eyes blinked open, and she paused. For some reason the dazzling blue of her eyes surprised me. I hadn’t realized how beautiful she was. How funny that I only noticed it when she woke from a nightmare. She smiled up at me. “Hi Turtlepaw.” I grinned back. “Hey. Nightmare?“ She nodded slowly.“Dreamed that Spar- I dreamed that ''I ''was being eaten by a badger.” I let out a ''mrrow ''of amusement. “You could easily beat a badger in real life. I’ve seen you snap at Noonpaw...” She laughed, a pure ringing noise, and I felt a stirring in my chest. I gave her one of my famous warm smiles, and she returned it after a moment of hesitation. She then yawned. ”I’d better get up. I feel like going on Dawn Patrol.” I nodded. “Yeah, I have a feeling I’d like to go on a ridiculously early and overrated payrolls well.“ She laughed again, and got to her paws, then tripped on a small rock and fell back into her nest. I tried hard to keep a straight face, and, according to Jadepaw's reaction, failed. She glared at me, and I hastened to help her up. Her scent was like... catmint, and... I frowned slightly. Pine needles. ShadowClan scent. She noticed my expression. "What's wrong?" I shook my head. "I know it's probably nothing... but you smell like ShadowClan." She froze. It was only for a heartbeat, but I noticed it. What did that minuscule freeze mean? She tried to cover it up with a, “Wow Turtlepaw, you must have a good sense of smell! I patrolled the ShadowClan border yesterday!” I tried to feel relieved, but there was a hard feeling in my chest that I could not dismiss. It seemed she was hiding something from me... but what? Sparrowpaw’s POV I waited by the river, desperately nervous. Would Jadepaw show up? She ''had ''said to meet her by the river... or had she? Had she actually meant a stream, or a large body of water? I shivered. Then... I smelt her. For some reason, she always smelled of catmint, and although it probably didn’t help her with hunting, it was a pretty good way for others to know when she approached. I decided to hide, and hid under a clump of brambles. Soon I could hear the melody to her paws on pine needles. How she managed to walk like that I didn’t know. But I didn’t really care ''how ''she did it. Only the fact that she did it counted. I wasn’t the kind of cat who puzzled over every single little detail about something before I could like it. Jadepaw seemed too good to seem true. Somehow, she noticed me under the bush. ”Hey there Sparrowpaw!” She smiled. Before I met Jadepaw, I didn’t know a cats tone could be described as smiley. But her voice was ''definitely ''smiley. I popped my head out, and winced as the brambles scratched my ears. “Oh, hi Jadepaw!” She gave me another smile, and I returned it. “I missed you.” I murmured. It felt so lovely, being close to her again. Her scent, her voice, her personality... she was the best she-cat I had ever met. “Me too.” She whispered back. I smiled, and rubbed my head against her shoulder. She seemed to stiffen slightly at this, and inside I chastised myself. Why was I being so idiotic? I barely knew Jadepaw, why was already showing displays of affection towards her? The answer came quickly to my mind. Because I loved her. “What do you want to do today?” I asked. She shrugged. ”Maybe we could swim in the river.” I nodded my agreement. Jadepaw smiled, and brushed against me. I froze for a second. She smelt of another tom. She frowned at me. “Are you alright?” She was so innocent and naive. She didn’t know how I felt about her. I leaned closer to her. “Look Jadepaw, I- .” I pricked my ears. “Do you hear that?“ She shook her head, and a heartbeat later I was proved right by a dark grey tabby tom, who leapt from a nearby bush, revolt on his face. “Jadepaw!” He yowled. I found myself stepping in front of her protectively, my fur bristling. “What do you want with her?” I snarled. The newcomer, who I now noticed had a brown patch on the base of his tail, let out a slight hiss, and spoke again on the same angry yowl. “Jadepaw, what are you doing with this, this... tom?!” Jadepaw carefully moved around me and came face to face with the intruder. How she managed to look so calm I didn’t know... and a nasty thought rose to the back of my mind. Was ''this ''the very same tom? A quick sniff of his scent confirmed this, and heat started to gather at the back of my head. Jadepaw’s melodious tone snapped me out of my thinking. “Turtlepaw, this doesn’t look like you think it does.” The tom, or ''Turtlepaw ''as Jadepaw called him, snorted in disbelief. “Then why are you with another tom?! I thought you LOVED me! Apparently I was wrong! Answer me! Why are you with him?!” I hissed. “Leave Jadepaw alone! What did she ever do to you?!” Turtlepaw glared at me, and I suddenly understood what this must be like for him. He thought a beautiful, kind and compassionate she-cat loved him, and then found her meeting with a strange guy from another Clan. Of course he was acting like this. Jadepaw sent me a look that clearly said, ‘Stay out of it.’ She turned back to Turtlepaw. “Turtlepaw. Listen to me. Sparrowpaw had a very traumatising event happen to him, and I’m just helping him get over it. That’s all that we’re doing here.” I felt my heart break. Was that all she thought me as? A poor little kit who needed help to get over being rejected. Surely she was just pretending so Turtlepaw would leave us alone... surely she loved me...